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Labour Markets and Productivity in Developing Countries

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  • Mathan Satchi

    ()

  • Jonathan Temple

Abstract

In middle-income countries, the informal sector often accountes for a substantial fraction of the urban labour force. We develop a general equilibrium model with matching frictions in the urban labour market, the possibility of self-employment in the informal sector, and scope for rural-urban migration. We investigate the effects of different types of growth on wages and the informal sector, and the extent to which labour market institutions can influence aggregate productivity. We quantify these effects by calibrating the model to data for Mexico.

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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by Department of Economics, University of Kent in its series Studies in Economics with number 0805.

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Date of creation: Feb 2008
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Handle: RePEc:ukc:ukcedp:0805

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Postal: Department of Economics, University of Kent at Canterbury, Canterbury, Kent, CT2 7NP
Phone: +44 (0)1227 764000
Fax: +44 (0)1227 827850
Web page: http://www.ukc.ac.uk/economics/

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Keywords: informal sector; urban unemployment; dual economies; matching frictions;

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References

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Citations

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Cited by:
  1. Zenou, Yves, 2010. "Search, Migration, and Urban Land Use: The Case of Transportation Policies," IZA Discussion Papers 5312, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  2. Batini, Nicoletta & Kim, Young-Bae & Levine, Paul & Lotti, Emanuela, 2011. "Informal Labour and Credit Markets: A Survey," Working Papers 11/94, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy.
  3. Benedikt Heid & Mario Larch & Alejandro Riaño, 2011. "Maquiladoras and Informality: A Mixed Blessing," CESifo Working Paper Series 3689, CESifo Group Munich.
  4. Batini, Nicoletta & Levine, Paul & Lotti, Emanuela & Yang, Bo, 2011. "Monetary and Fiscal Policy in the Presence of Informal Labour Markets," Working Papers 11/97, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy.
  5. Nicoletta Batini & Paul Levine & Emanuela Lotti & Bo Yang, 2011. "Informality, Frictions and Monetary Policy," School of Economics Discussion Papers 0711, School of Economics, University of Surrey.
  6. Paul Maarek, 2012. "Labor share, Informal sector and Development," THEMA Working Papers 2012-34, THEMA (THéorie Economique, Modélisation et Applications), Université de Cergy-Pontoise.
  7. Andrew Kerr, 2012. "A Model of Comparative Advantage with Matching in the Urban Tanzanian Labour Market," CSAE Working Paper Series 2012-21, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
  8. Bhalotra, Sonia R. & Umana-Aponte, Marcela, 2010. "The Dynamics of Women's Labour Supply in Developing Countries," IZA Discussion Papers 4879, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  9. Alex Bowen, 2012. "‘Green’ growth, ‘green’ jobs and labour markets," Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment Working Papers 76, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.
  10. Nicoletta Batini & Paul Levine & Emanuela Lotti, 2011. "The Costs and Benefits of Informality," School of Economics Discussion Papers 0211, School of Economics, University of Surrey.
  11. Thomas M. Fullerton Jr. & George Novela, 2010. "Metropolitan Maquiladora Econometric Forecast Accuracy," Journal for Economic Forecasting, Institute for Economic Forecasting, vol. 0(3), pages 124-140, September.
  12. Bowen, Alex, 2012. "'Green'growth,'green'jobs and labor markets," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5990, The World Bank.

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